Saturday, April 28, 2018

United Russia Wants to Restore Party Cells in Enterprises, Thus Becoming More like CPSU

Paul
Goble

Staunton, April 27 – One of the most
important steps away from communism at the end of Soviet times was the
disbanding of communist party cells in the workplace, structures that played an
important ideological even more control role. Now, the ruling United Russia
Party appears set to restore those organizations, thus becoming more like the CPSU.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union,
party organizations have been prohibited from having cells in any workplace,
including military units, factories, and local government agencies. Only
territorial units are allowed. Consequently, if United Russia goes ahead with
this idea, it will have to get the law changed.

Some advocates see it as
strengthening the party as an organization, while others present this move as
one that will give the party greater possibilities for supporting the
implementation of Vladimir Putin’s programs and supporting party candidates in
future elections.

Some United Russia activists also
want to set up party organizations in schools so as to boost the activity of the
party’s Young Guard and to recreate the Soviet system of political information with
full-time lecturers and agitators who could meet on a regular basis with
workers and others to spread the party’s ideas.

Many are skeptical of these
ideas.Vadim Solovyev, head of the legal
service of the KPRF, says that United Russia is trying to revive something for
which there is no demand and in a situation completely different from Soviet
times. If it goes ahead, he says, it will be committing “suicide” by becoming
simply another administrative resource for the powers that be.

And Aleksandr Kynyev, a prominent Moscow
political analyst, says that everyone should remember that one of the reasons
behind the decision of the Constitutional Court in 1992 to ban the CPSU was the
existence of party cells in the workplace.Apparently, he suggests, “the United Russia activists have forgotten
about this.”

Kynyev tells Kommersant that instead, “the party is instinctively moving toward
a semi-totalitarian system. This didn’t end well for the CPSU and it won’t end
well for United Russia either.”